YOU MIGHT HAVE GONE PAST THIS ALL YOUR LIFE: Photographs of Public Art In The Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel

29 Wednesday Dec 2021

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archives, history, metro, public art, transit

People celebrating opening of bus tunnel — Opening day for the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, September 15, 1990. [From Photographs: Prints, Office of Information Resource Management: Service Development / Printing and Graphic Arts, Series 1147, Box 1, Folder 20, 1147-1-20-001_8285-3-41_Opening, 1990]

Among the hundreds of digitized records we have available that represent documents, maps, and photographs from our collection, I’ve recently discovered a bounty of photographs documenting local transit projects that have brought me great joy. Series 1147 includes several photographs of people, places, and activities, many of which are related to Metro transit from the 1970s-1990s. But among many of the photographs documenting buildings and the landscape of major transit thoroughfares in downtown Seattle, it’s the photographs of transit history that is right under our feet that I’ve found most captivating.

Traveling around King County, you may have noticed a lot of public art out there. There are great examples on sidewalks, office building plazas, parks, waterfronts, and more. If you’ve ever been down into the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel among the hustle of commuters, did you notice the murals and decorative elements of the floral tiles on the walls at Westlake or the structural arch tubing at the above-ground entrance to the former Convention Place Station? The Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel started bus service through the tunnel just over 30 years ago, back in the Fall of 1990. Moving through the tunnel to get to the bus (and now just the light rail), it’s easy to pass on by the art and architectural design of each station that runs through the downtown corridor. These sometimes-hidden gems, are the product of more than 30 artworks that were commissioned from 25 artists during the planning and building phase for the tunnel back in the 1980s. The concepts and design for the art and architecture of each station are a response to the neighborhoods each station exists within. From northeast downtown to the south in the International District, the original footprint of the tunnel system was 5 stations:

Convention Place–>Westlake–>University Street–>Pioneer Square–>International District.

While I’m still going through the photographs we have of the public art installed throughout the five stations in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, I want to call out a few photographs that I’ve identified so far at two of the original five stations. Let’s take a look at the former station to the northern end of downtown:

–>Convention Place

Formerly situated at 9^th Ave and Pine Street in front of the Paramount Theatre to greet travelers and commuters heading into the tunnel to go north to the U District or south to the International District and beyond, the Convention Place Station was the northern starting point to go underground and travel the length of the downtown area in a matter of minutes. Named for its proximity to the Washington State Convention Center, the station existed and operated bus travel in this space until its closure in 2018. Today, transit riders traveling south in the tunnel are arriving from the Capitol Hill Station situated up on Broadway East between East Olive Way and East Denny Way in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

While in operation as a tunnel station, this open-air station featured art and architecture with Alice Adams and Jack Mackie as the lead artists and architect Robert Jones as the station designer. One of the most prominent artworks at this station was the dual marquee entrance that met travelers going in and out of the southside of the station plaza at surface street level to pop over to the Paramount or elsewhere into downtown. Designed by artist Alice Adams, the dual marquee design pictured below included metal and neon tubing inspired by the Paramount Theatre marquee across the street and NYC’s Chrysler Building.

Install of artwork in front of Paramount Theatre — Install of Alice Adams’ marquee artwork. [From Photographs: Prints, Office of Information Resource Management: Service Development / Printing and Graphic Arts, Series 1147, Box 1, Folder 21, 1147-1-21-020_7965-17_ConstrParamount, undated]

Detail image of neon tubing on sign — Detail image of neon tubing in Alice Adams’ marquee artwork. [From Photographs: Prints, Office of Information Resource Management: Service Development / Printing and Graphic Arts, Series 1147, Box 5, Folder 13, 1147-5-13-116, undated]

From the former Convention Place Station, let’s move on down to the next station on the tunnel route to stop in at Westlake Station.

–>Westlake

Located between 4^th and 6^th Ave on Pine Street, the station continues to serve travelers and commuters in the Westlake Center and Westlake Park area. With Jack Mackie as the lead artist and architect Brent Carlson as the station designer, the station art and design are characteristic of the Westlake shopping hub and gathering place of the Westlake Park plaza that surround the surface streets of the station.

One artwork that you might have missed buzzing through the station are the terra-cotta tiles that line the south wall of the station. The tiles are relief designs of roots and vines evocative of Westlake Park just above on the surface. Below is artist Jack Mackie developing the relief style of one of the terra-cotta tiles that would eventually go onto the entire garden wall.

Artist working on sculpture — Artist Jack Mackie working on terra-cotta tile for the garden wall install at Westlake Station. [From Photographs: Prints, Office of Information Resource Management: Service Development / Printing and Graphic Arts, Series 1147, Box 5, Folder 13, 1147-5-13-114, undated]

Wall with terra-cotta artwork — The terra-cotta tile wall by artist Jack Mackie installed at Westlake Station. [From Photographs: Prints, Office of Information Resource Management: Service Development / Printing and Graphic Arts, Series 1147, Box 5, Folder 13, 1147-5-13-113, undated]

And at the busy platform of transit riders idling for the next light rail to come or hustling by to the next destination on the surface streets, this Roger Shimomura mural is just one of the murals representing the public that moves about the city and surrounding areas each day. Other murals at Westlake Station not pictured here are by Fay Jones and Gene Gentry McMahon.

Image of mural — Panoramic image of mural by artist Roger Shimomura installed at Westlake Station. [From Photographs: Prints, Office of Information Resource Management: Service Development / Printing and Graphic Arts, Series 1147, Box 5, Folder 15, 1147-5-15-089, undated]

The above artworks and artists are certainly not the only public art to be enjoyed or reminisced throughout the tunnel’s history. I’m only just discovering all these public art photos and in time I hope that the tour can continue on down through the tunnel. Thanks for joining me on this brief trip!

Clock artwork being installed — Install of the 3^rd and University street clock artwork designed by artist Heather Ramsay. [From Photographs: Prints, Office of Information Resource Management: Service Development / Printing and Graphic Arts, Series 1147, Box 1, Folder 27, 1147-1-27-049_8099-8A_3rdAveClockInstall, undated]

Want to learn more?

If you’d like to learn more about the public art in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, the following articles were very helpful in gathering details for this post. The articles cover much more about the opening of the transit tunnel and the artists and intent involved in the art and design of each tunnel station.

Other resources to learn more about the tunnel construction and design:

Scenes from the late 1980s: Looking back at the construction of the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel

21 Thursday Mar 2019

Posted by kcarchivist in Commemorative observances, Events, Exhibits, Photographs

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archives, buses, construction, convention place station, downtown seattle transit tunnel, dstt, history, infrastructure, international district station, king street station, light rail, metro, ned ahrens, old seattle, paramount theatre, pioneer square station, retail history, seattle, sinkhole, stores, surveying, surveys, tbm, transit, transit stations, tunnel boring machine, tunnels, underground, union station, university station, westlake station

On March 23, the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT) will convert to Link light rail trains only, and bus service will be moved to surface streets. At the Archives, we’re reminiscing over these photographs of its construction, showing a glimpse of 1980s Seattle and the people who built the tunnel.

The photos below come from Series 1844: Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel project files and Series 1147: Office of Information Resource Management Printing and Graphic Arts photographs. Ask an archivist if you have any questions about any of these photographs or the other transit-related records held at the King County Archives.

Pre-Construction Survey

As construction began, Metro staff took photographs of the interior and exterior of buildings along the tunnel’s route, ostensibly to document the current condition of the structures.

Nordstrom Best, 1536 Westlake Ave (Feb 17, 1987)

Frederick & Nelson, 500 Pine St (Feb 24, 1987)

Spin’s Tavern, 521 3rd Ave (Mar 4, 1987)

Jay Jacobs, 1530 5th Ave (Mar 5, 1987)

Bruno Magli, 511 Pine St (Mar 5, 1987)

Klopfenstein’s, 600 Pine St (Mar 6, 1987)

Century Square, 1529 4th Ave (Apr 7, 1987)

B. Dalton (Century Square), 1529 4th Ave (Apr 7, 1987)

Lobby of the Pacific Building, 720 3rd Ave (Sep 14, 1987)

The Goodie Box (Dexter Horton Building), 709 3rd Ave (Sep 14, 1987)

Kay’s Cookie Kitchen, 1111 3rd Ave (Oct 23, 1987)

Theatre Building, 1515 3rd St (Nov 12, 1987)

Smoke Shop (Sterling Building), 1412 3rd Ave (Dec 10, 1987)

Documenting Construction

During construction, thousands of photographs were taken, in a variety of formats, to document the complex work required to dig the tunnel and prepare it for service. The photographs below are from the project files and were taken by Ray Halvorson, Ed Hunter, Norm Nelson, Vic Oblas, Keith Nordlund, and Merdad Shahverdi.

Convention Place demolition (May 4, 1987) – Ray Halvorson

Tunnel construction (May 4, 1987) – Ray Halvorson

5th Ave/6th Ave Alley Duct Bank (May 6, 1987) – Ray Halvorson

Westlake Center construction (May 13, 1987 – Ray Halvorson

Westlake Center (May 21, 1987) – Ray Halvorson

Tunnel construction (Apr 22, 1987) – Keith Nordlund

Pile drilling by auger (May 13, 1987) – Merdad Shahverdi

Excavation, Pine St (Jun 29, 1987) – Merdad Shahverdi

Tunnel construction (May 5, 1987) – Vic Oblas

Tunnel boring machine near King Street Station (May 10, 1987) – Vic Oblas

MH20 placement (Aug 12, 1987) – Ed Hunter

12′ diameter rebar structure, Convention Place (Jul 28, 1987) – Merdad Shahverdi

Tunnel construction (Jun 2, 1987) – Norm Nelson

Tunnel construction (Jul 6, 1987) – Norm Nelson

Tunnel construction (Jun 26, 1987) – Norm Nelson

Station Construction (1987)

The following photographs were taken by Norm Nelson and Vic Oblas.

Tunnel station construction (Aug 5, 1987) – Vic Oblas

Tunnel station construction (Aug 14, 1987) – Vic Oblas

Tunnel station construction (Sep 23, 1987) – Vic Oblas

Tunnel station construction (Sep 24, 1987) – Norm Nelson

Tunnel station construction (Sep 25, 1987) – Norm Nelson

Tunnel station construction (Oct 13, 1987) – Vic Oblas

Tunnel station construction (Nov 4, 1987) – Vic Oblas

Station Construction: International District (1988-1989)

International District Station construction (Sep 26, 1988)

Dan Graczyk, Manager of Transit Operations for Metro Tunnel Project (Sep 28, 1988)

International District Station construction (Oct 4, 1988)

International District Station construction (Oct 6, 1988)

International District Station construction (Jul 13, 1989)

International District Station construction (Jul 11, 1989)

International District Station construction (no date)

International District Station construction (Sep 26, 1988)

Station Construction: Pioneer Square Station (1988-1989)

South Portal BNRR Tunnel: Colbeck flatcar with compressor sandblaster (Jun 1, 1988)

South Portal BNRR Tunnel: Colbeck Sandblast train (Jun 1, 1988)

Pioneer Square Station construction (Dec 1, 1988)

Pioneer Square Station construction (Jun 17, 1988)

Pioneer Square Station construction (Feb 15, 1989)

Pioneer Square Station construction (Dec 9, 1988)

Pioneer Square Station construction (Jun 17, 1988)

Pioneer Square Station construction (Jul 18, 1989)

Pioneer Square Station construction (Dec 1, 1988)

Pioneer Square Station construction (Jul 18, 1989)

Pioneer Square Station construction (Dec 9, 1988)

Station Construction: Various (1989)

Station construction (Dec 7, 1989)

Station construction (Dec 14, 1989)

Station construction (Dec 11, 1989)

Station construction (Dec 19, 1989)

Station construction (Dec 11, 1989)

Station construction (Dec 14, 1989)

Station construction (Dec 12, 1989)

Station construction (Dec 14, 1989)

Station Construction: University Street Station (1990)

University Street Station construction (Feb 1, 1990)

University Street Station construction (Mar 15, 1990)

University Street Station construction (Jan 12, 1990)

University Street Station construction (Jan 17, 1990)

University Street Station construction (Jan 22, 1990)

University Street Station construction (Mar 19, 1990)

University Street Station construction (Feb 1, 1990)

University Street Station construction (Jan 12, 1990)

The photographs below are from Printing and Graphic Arts. Photographers include Ned Ahrens, Tim Healy, and Barton L. Attebery.

Construction area, 9th Ave and Pine St

Nordstrom

Sinkhole, 6th Ave (Mar 1987)

Sinkhole, 3rd Ave and Spring St (Oct 1987)

Viewing area

Mannequins in a window near the construction (Jul 1987)

Burlington Northern tunnel

Tunnel Construction

Westlake construction

Tunnel boring machine

Station Construction

International District Station, Union Station, and the Kingdome

Smoothing concrete

Installing tiles at International District Station

Westlake Station

Westlake construction

Pioneer Square Station

Pioneer Square Station entrance

Pioneer Square Station

Pioneer Square Station entrance

Bird’s-eye view of Convention Place Station

Convention Place Station

Convention Place Station, in front of the Paramount Theatre

Laying rails at Convention Place Station

Pioneer Square Station tunnel segments

Pioneer Square Station

The people who built the tunnel

Tunnel workers take a break

Installing rail

Relocating utilities

Drilling tests, with Smith Tower in the background

Moving utilities near 3rd Ave

The Bon Marché, 3rd Ave and Pine St

Metro staff on the Monorail tracks

Drilling near Pine St

Employees tour the tunnel

Tunnel breakthrough

Control room for the tunnel

Tunnel Stations

University Street Station entrance (Dec 1991)

University Street Station

Pioneer Square Station

Panorama of Convention Place Station; Paramount Theatre is on the right

Convention Place Station

Pioneer Square Station gates

Pioneer Square Station entrance

DSTT Events

Tunnel run (Sep 1990)

First day of tunnel operations: first bus through (Sep 15, 1990) – Ned Ahrens

Tunnel completed festivities (Nov 1988)

A model poses in front of a tunnel opening

Mighty Mole, mascot for the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, at the tunnel breakthrough

Mighty Mole enjoying breakfast

Mighty Mole and Jack Kent (1987)

As we say bon voyage to the buses leaving the tunnel, contact the Archives for more information about the photographs above, to make an appointment to see more, or to ask an archivist about anything else related to King County history!

Digitization and description of photographs: Amanda Demeter and Danielle Coyle

Text and arrangement: Jill Anderson

Secondary Value: Using Road Construction Records for Genealogy

10 Tuesday Apr 2018

Posted by kcarchivist in Other, Photographs

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aerials, archives, genealogy, history, maps, plans, property ownership, roads, secondary use, surveys, topography

Detail from survey, map no. 101-5.B, showing Fall City in 1913

In an earlier blog post, we talked about the secondary research value of aerial photographs. Secondary value is research that can be done in records that is different from the purposes for which the records were originally created.

In addition to aerial photographs, another good source of secondary research value are the historical records of the King County Road Services Division. These records were originally created to document road construction or maintenance, but can also provide a wealth of information about historical structures, property ownership, or geographic or environmental conditions.

The bulk of these documents are available online, in the Road Services Division’s Map Vault, an online repository of nearly 200,000 plans, drawings, surveys, and aerial photographs. Secondary uses of these records include:

- Providing contextual detail to basic genealogical facts,

Researching historical land or vegetation conditions, or
Tracking the development of the built environment.

This post will examine how to locate evidence about an ancestor in road project records and what these records can show. searchfields

Secondary Use Example: Genealogy

Road surveys and road establishment files (also called Road History Packets) can be rich sources of land ownership information, if your ancestor owned land in a part of King County which was unincorporated at the time and if county forces did construction or maintenance work nearby.

Title block from the bottom left corner of the Issaquah-Fall City survey map, containing information that can be used to locate it in the Map Vault

In April 1914, as part of a bond issue to reduce steep grades on county highways, county surveyors created this 3′ x 11.5′ map, showing the alignment of Issaquah-Fall City Rd. (Today the route shown in this survey follows part of Interstate 90 until turning north and following Preston Fall City Rd SE.)

“Survey No. 1137, Issaquah Fall City,” map no. 102-10.A, 1914

Part of determining the route of the road required documenting who owned property along the route and thus would be affected by construction – how access and travel would be improved or hindered, what right-of-way would need to be acquired, or what structures or other property might be taken down or relocate to accommodate the road.

In this survey, just south of Fall City and a cemetery owned by the International Order of Odd Fellows, is the property of William Wallace Pulver. Censuses and vital records indicate that Pulver was born in May 1839 to Harvey and Providence (or Prudence) Pulver, probably in Ontario, Canada. Sometime in the 1890s, he moved to western Washington, and began to purchase land in and around Fall City. In the detail below, the alignment of the road runs right through this part of Pulver’s land, where he had apple trees, a water closet, patches of raspberries and currants, and fencing around his property.

Detail from “Survey No. 1137,” map no. 102-10.A, 1914

This survey map also points to a book of survey field notes, discovered in the notation next to the intersection between the right-of-way and Pulver’s fence: “Fence Post Vol. 352 ‘A’ pg. 13.” That survey field book is also in the Map Vault and provides more detailed notes about the survey around Pulver’s garden. Knowing that William Pulver had a flushing toilet, a garden, and potentially an orchard not only gives us a glimpse of life in the early years of the county, but sheds light on Pulver’s occupation and economic status.

That’s great, but how do I find my ancestors in these records anyway?

In the 1800s and early 1900s, King County roads requested by citizens were initially named after the main petitioner. Thus, Seattle founding father David Swinson “Doc” Maynard shows up in the Map Vault as a petitioner of at least two roads and can be searched for by entering his last name into the “Project/map name” field.

An example using a surname

Clicking the link for the second result to download the Road History Packet for D. S. Maynard Road No. 2 provides not only Maynard’s original signature but also the reports to the King County Commissioners, written by Maynard himself as foreman of the crew surveying the route.

This search by surname only works for the main petitioner – in this case, David “Doc” Maynard. Often the property owner petitioning for the road would recruit his or her neighbors to support the petition; these additional signatories are not indexed, unfortunately. However, this means that searching by the name of a known neighbor may yield documents that also mention the ancestor. Look in late 19th- or early 20th-century censuses for the people that lived nearby and search by their surnames as well.

The Map Vault is also searchable by location (section, township, and range) or by road name, so determining the location of an ancestor’s land through other records may also provide information that can be used to search the Vault.

The King County Road Services Division Map Vault is located at http://www.kingcounty.gov/mapvault, and the Road Services Division Map and Records Center can answer questions about how to use the Map Vault (email them at map.roads@kingcounty.gov). The original road history packets and many other historical roads records have been transferred to the King County Archives. Contact us at archives@kingcounty.gov.

King County’s wharves, docks and ferry landings: starting a new century

26 Saturday Aug 2017

Posted by kcarchivist in Drawings and plans, From the Vault, Photographs

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The King County Archives recently updated one of its older record series, County Engineer wharf files 1899-1987 (Series 375). Staff and volunteers added more maps and drawings to the series and improved descriptions of new and existing record materials.

The old wharves themselves are mostly long gone, part of a past that seems increasingly far away. But the records that remain remind us that water-based transportation once was an important mode of travel to people throughout the Puget Sound region –– as it may be again.

Lunchpail-toting children at Northup Wharf on Yarrow Bay, c. 1912-1916. (Series 375, Box 5, Folder 32)

A Short History of King County’s Wharves

Construction and maintenance of about 100 wharves (also called docks) was a significant part of King County’s public works function during the first half of the twentieth century.

Vessels on Puget Sound and Lakes Union and Washington carried passengers and freight. So wharves became an extension of the county’s road system, connectors between water and land transportation.

In this 1932 image, a branch of County Road 987 (now 76th Avenue SE) passes through this north Mercer Island neighborhood to connect with McGilvra Wharf no. 987 on Lake Washington. (Series 375, Box 5, Series 17.)

Most of the wharves were publicly accessible. A few wharves served private resorts or camps but were maintained by King County if they were at the end of public roads.

King County ferries and ferry docks

From about 1900 to 1939, King County also operated, or contracted for, ferry services across Lake Washington and to Vashon Island. County ferry docks were located in Seattle (Leschi and Madison Park), Kirkland, Bellevue, Medina, Des Moines and on Vashon Island.

95-005-0526-P001

Foot passengers walk on the Seattle ferry at Wharf 287, Kirkland Ferry Dock, as automobiles wait to board, June 1918. Series 400, item 95-005-0526-P.

400-629003

Work crew removing “an old Vashon wharf” [probably at Lisabuela], 1967. Series 400, image file 629.

With the growth of land-based transportation in the 1930s, and construction of the first floating bridge across Lake Washington in 1941, water transportation became a lesser county priority.

Private companies, and then the state of Washington, took over Vashon car ferry service.

After World War II, King County worked to remove abandoned and unsafe wharves.

Future public parks

Other wharf sites became parks. Some of today’s municipal parks—such as Dumas Bay Wildlife Sanctuary in Federal Way; Meydenbauer Beach Park (under development) and Enatai Beach Park, both in Bellevue; and Kennydale Beach Park in Renton—had their start as county parks on the sites of former county wharves.

375-5-3 276 Enatai-Hertford

Swimmers gather at the end of the dock at Enatai Beach Park, Bellevue, a King County park in the 1950s. (Series 375, Box 5, Folder 3)

King County’s present-day Dockton Beach Park on Maury Island provides a public boat launch and moorage structure situated on the former site of Dockton Wharf no. 542.

375-1-7 542 Dockton Wharf

Pile driving work at Dockton Wharf no. 542, probably in the 1920s. (Series 375, Box 5, Folder 7)

160-467-2-29 Dockton

This Parks Department photograph may have been taken in the mid-1960s to publicize the redeveloped Dockton Beach Park. (Series 467, Box 2, Folder 29)

Water taxis: an alternative to cars

At the end of the twentieth century, transportation planners faced increasing challenges with automobiles, including traffic gridlock, longer commute distances, and air pollution. To provide an alternative for some commuters, in 1997 King County initiated a new foot-ferry service, first to West Seattle and, in 2007, to Vashon Island.

King County also built new docks and waiting rooms to serve the new passenger ferries.

Foot traffic to West Seattle uses the new Seacrest terminal. (King County Department of Transportation photograph from Captain’s Blog, February 16, 2017, and brochure).

Documenting County Wharf and Dock History

Series 375, the County Engineer’s wharf files, is made up of different record types: paper textual materials, graphical materials, and black-and-white photographs.

Textual records

Textual materials include copies of letters and memoranda to and from the county Commissioners, engineers and inspectors, and the general public.

375-3-10 Ordinary facilities for Tahlequah.jpg

Petition from the South End Community Club, Burton, Vashon Island, to the King County Commissioners, asking for “ordinary facilities” (restrooms) at the Tahlequah ferry terminal, 1931. (Series 375, Box 3, Folder 10)

Other types of textual materials include petitions, copies of Commissioner resolutions, inspection reports, specifications, and cost estimates. 375-1-1 Case for postwar recreation

Inspector F.D. Sheffield’s notes (1946) on the postwar recreational potential of old wharf sites foreshadowed King County’s robust park expansion in the late 1940s and 1950s. (Series 375, Box 1, Folder 1)

Graphical records

Graphical material–drawings, plans and maps–are present both as individual encapsulated paper sheets and as aggregated groups of working drawings and blueprints. Record types can include site maps, elevations, sections, structural plans, piling plans, construction drawings, surveys, tide lines, detail drawings, shop drawings, and floor plans.

This 1926 drawing shows how King County brought water to a drinking fountain at the Vashon Heights ferry terminal (predecessor of the present state facility at the same location). (Series 375, Box 8, Folder 8) (Click on image to view full drawing)

Photographic prints and negatives

Black-and-white photographic prints and negatives may show some or all of the following:

the wharf seen from various angles (shore and water, ground level, and elevated perspective)
approaches (road or rail)
ancillary structures (sheds, waiting rooms, retail businesses)
adjacent terrain; adjacent residential and commercial structures
construction, maintenance, repairing or rebuilding of the wharf
documentation of the wharf’s condition

In the background of this 1936 image of the Tahlequah ferry terminal, Vashon Island, the Asarco copper smelter smokestack in Ruston (once the world’s tallest at 571 feet) emits its notoriously toxic pollutants. The stack was demolished in 1993. (Series 375, Box 5, Folder 19)

Connecting series

95-005-1191-N007

Stone’s Landing, circa 1906.(Series 400, image no. 95-005-1191-N.)

Archives staff also identified photographs of wharves found in other record series, and cross-referenced them to Series 375.

For example, several images of Wharf no. 239 at Stone’s Landing (now Redondo) were found in a large series of general engineering photographs. The images show a party of King County inspectors at the wharf, possibly following the fatal collapse of part of the structure in 1906. The unidentified girl appears in several photographs.

Sorting out wharf names and numbers

During their active lives, wharves were identified by a county wharf number and by a name, or names. New archival work in 2016-2017 centered on accurately associating wharf numbers with wharf name(s) and establishing a standard name for each wharf.

King County’s Wharf 3 on southeast Lake Union (seen here in 1937) was also known as Prospect Street Wharf, Howard Avenue Wharf, Lake Union Ferry Wharf, and the King County Dock. (Series 375, Box 5, Folder 21)

An authority cross-reference file of variant wharf names was created. The standard names and numbers were added to existing descriptions of record material and to graphical material (maps, plans, and drawings) that were described for the first time.

Cross-referencing drawings and related materials

About 250 professionally-conserved, hard-copy maps and drawings of wharves had previously been transferred to the Archives by the King County Road Services Division, as part of that agency’s Map Vault preservation program. Archives personnel revised existing descriptions of the drawings so that they matched with related materials in Series 375.

Digital images of these maps and drawings are currently available through the King County Road Services Map Vault.

Wharf and Dock History Records: A Resource for Many Researchers

Series 375 is an excellent source of evocative and nostalgic photographs of Puget Sound and Lakes Washington and Union. But these records can also be used in different ways for different types of research. Some examples follow.

The small steamer Daring approaches Wharf 116 at Ellisport-Chautauqua, Vashon Island, c. 1912. (Series 375, Box 5, Folder 25)

Marine historians can gain insights into water transportation in twentieth-century King County. The steamer Daring, pictured here, has been further documented in Mosquito Fleet of South Puget Sound (Jean Cammon Findlay and Robin Paterson, 2008).

One of King County’s first parks (1938) was developed on Meydenbauer Bay at the site of a former ferry landing. Built with federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds, the park later fell into disrepair and was abandoned. It is now being redeveloped by the City of Bellevue. (Series 400, Item 95-005-2981)

Students of recreation and leisure activities can trace the development of county and municipal parks at former wharf sites.

King County’s first ferry service to Vashon Island connected Des Moines and Portage. This drawing (c.1920) of the Des Moines ferry landing shows the location of deck and fender pilings (Series 375, Box 7, Folder 12)

An older blueprint of Redondo Wharf 256 was used to indicate pilings for replacement in 1916 (Series 375, Box 7, Folder 14)

Marine biologists, scuba divers and social anthropologists may find interest in diagrams of old pilings at former wharf sites.

The village of Lisabuela, on the west side of Vashon Island, was the site of a popular resort from the 1920s to the 1950s. The steamer Virginia V (still sailing) and her four predecessors served the Lisabuela dock. (Series 375, Box 5, folder 1)

Vashon Islanders can learn more of island history, through records of public wharves, resort and camp wharves, and ferry terminals at Tahlequah and Vashon Heights (north Vashon Island).

Two recent Vashon community history projects have documented Camp Sealth, a Campfire Girls site with its own wharf; and Ellisport/Chatauqua. The latter project used records of Wharf 116 to help document Ellisport’s history.

Textual records associated with Newport Wharf no. 754 on Lake Washington describe the wharf’s use by logging companies as a dump site for logs being floated to sawmills. The second East Channel bridge to Mercer Island can be seen in the background of this 1932 image. (Series 375, Box 5, folder 10)

This 1937 view of Wharf no. 4 on North Lake Union at the foot of Stone Way also shows several adjacent businesses in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood. (Series 375, Box 5, Folder 22.)

Researchers of King County’s industrial and commercial history may find useful information in these records.

A New Era of Water Transportation?

King County, having re-established passenger ferry service to West Seattle and Vashon Island, has considered future expansion of water transportation to Seattle from Kenmore, Kirkland, Renton, Shilshole, and South Puget Sound (2007 King County Passenger-Only Ferry Project Briefing Paper). What once was, may be again. And documentation of new county ferries and facilities will create new records for future researchers.

Commemorating the Ship Canal Centennial: the Mills of Salmon Bay

05 Monday Jun 2017

Posted by kcarchivist in Events, Exhibits, Photographs

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Lake Washington Ship Canal Centennial, Making The Cut

Detail of photograph of Sobey Manufacturing Shingle Mill, 1915. Item 51879, Series 2613-07, Engineering Department Photographic Negatives, Seattle Municipal Archives.

Detail from cross-section drawing of the Seattle Cedar Lumber Manufacturing Company mill, 1915. Series 276, Salmon Bay Waterway Condemnation Survey No. 1255, King County Archives.

Plat of Salmon Bay Road, 1880. Road Book Volume 4, Series 30, King County Commissioners’ Road Books, King County Archives.

Announcing the opening of a joint exhibit from the King County Archives and the Seattle Municipal Archives:

The Mills of Salmon Bay and the Lake Washington Ship Canal

Created in commemoration of the Lake Washington Ship Canal Centennial, our new exhibit presents a history of the sawmills and shingle mills in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood that were affected by the canal.

The exhibit is part of Making the Cut, a series of exhibits, projects, and events from local organizations and individuals commemorating the centennial of the canal’s opening.

The Mills of Salmon Bay and the Lake Washington Ship Canal

Exhibit Dates: June through July, 2017

Location: underground pedestrian tunnel between the King County Courthouse and the King County Administration Building

Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Access the tunnel from the lower level of the King County Courthouse (516 3rd Avenue) or the King County Administration Building (500 4th Avenue) in downtown Seattle.

Exhibit background

On July 4, 1917, fifty-thousand people celebrated the opening of Seattle’s Lake Washington Ship Canal with fireworks, a carnival, and a boat parade.

Some forty years had passed between when the Ship Canal was first envisioned by non-native settlers and its completion. One of the last decisions to be made about the canal’s design was the placement of the locks, which would impact the sawmills and shingle mills along Ballard’s Salmon Bay.

The Mills of Salmon Bay and the Lake Washington Ship Canal features maps, technical drawings (steampunk fans take notice!), and photographs that were created by the City of Seattle and King County for the canal project. These records provide a view into the operation of these early 20th Century mills.

The exhibit presents a brief history of the Salmon Bay mills, regional labor issues in the timber industry, and the impact of the canal’s design and construction on Ballard’s Shingletown.

Visit makingthecut100.org for information about the many exhibits, events, projects, and online resources commemorating the centennial of the Lake Washington Ship Canal’s opening.

A theater near you

28 Monday Nov 2016

Posted by kcarchivist in Discoveries, From the Vault, Photographs

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fromthevault_graphic

drive-in_noway

Advertisement from The Seattle Times, Friday, September 27, 1968.

The holiday season has begun, and November’s soggy weather inspires many to head to the movies with visiting relatives, ready to take in the latest blockbuster films.

In this post, we look at records from the archives that document perceptions of a once-popular venue, the drive-in theater.

Communities facing change

Records of land use applications, hearings, and appeals can provide a view of individuals and communities responding to growth and change. The King County Commissioners’ zoning files, dating from the 1950s and 1960s, document the public response to several proposed developments, including a golf course, an air strip, and a drive-in theater.

A quiet life

The rezone file that documents approval of a drive-in theater includes snapshots of the affected rural neighborhood, with its modest homes, small businesses, a trailer park, and a nursery.

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[Views of neighborhood around 86th Avenue South and the East Valley Highway, 1965. The first set of photos above was taken using a Polaroid camera, the second is on Kodak paper.]

In my back yard?

In 1965 when a new drive-in theater was proposed for this community, local residents objected. Petitions and letters expressed concern over traffic, diminished property values, noise, light, and litter that the theater might bring.

resolution29839_letters_page_10_fog_roadhouses

One letter to County Commissioners recognized that new businesses would inevitably come to the neighborhood — just off the East Valley Highway between Kent and Auburn — but warned that a drive-in might define the area’s character and limit the type of commercial growth.

Moral character

Along with practical concerns came strong moral objection to the movies themselves and worry over their potential negative influence on local children and youth. Some lamented that drive-ins had changed from being family-oriented venues to showing “unwholesome” films to an “unwholesome” audience.

Reports of alcohol consumption, fighting, and young couples behaving inappropriately at existing area drive-ins added to the concern.

resolution29839_letters_page_14_observation

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The Kent Police Chief responded that behavior at drive-ins was manageable.

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Planning and growth

The Planning Department’s logo represented a balance of industrial, agricultural, business, and residential uses, connected by highways and roads, seemingly pulled into an asymmetrical shape by the natural form of a waterway.

Facilitating development while maintaining quality of life is the perpetual challenge for local planners. And, in spite of the residents’ objections and appeal, the department recommended approval of the rezone.

resolution29839_valleytheaterdrawing

[Sketch of the proposed theater as it would appear from the road.]

The Valley Drive-In

The Valley Drive-In opened in 1966 and became a popular destination, expanding over time from a single, sixty-foot-high screen, to a six-screen multiplex. It outlasted other drive-in theaters in King County, staying in business until 2012. Feliks Banel’s article from May of this year, “Auburn’s abandoned Valley Drive-In is a spooky ‘graveyard‘” provides a nostalgic view of the theater and drive-ins generally.

While researchers at the Archives most frequently use land use and zoning records to answer a specific technical or legal question, the records also document how neighborhoods change over time and how people respond to that change. The records of this rezone show a small community’s assertion of its values, which they felt were threatened by a new venue that might allow uncontrolled behavior and exposure to what were regarded as negative social influences. Parents today, concerned over youth’s access to the unlimited content of the Internet and unsupervised time, might relate to these fears. As with many archival records, this zoning file reminds us that what seem like new issues might in fact be perennial themes, reemerging in new forms.

Sources

King County Commissioners’ Zoning Files, Series 129 (129.20.2) (1965).

Valley Drive-In advertiesement from The Seattle Times, Friday, September 27, 1968, page 31.

“Fifty years: Adapting to change keeps drive-ins alive,” The Seattle Times, Sunday, June 5, 1983, page G-1.

“Auburn’s abandoned Valley Drive-In is a spooky ‘graveyard’,” MyNorthwest.com, May 12, 2016, (http://mynorthwest.com/291115/auburns-abandoned-valley-drive-in-spooky-graveyard)

How they built the bridge: Teamwork at Tolt-MacDonald Park, 1976

30 Sunday Oct 2016

Posted by kcarchivist in Archives Month, Photographs

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This is the last in a series of blog posts celebrating American Archives Month 2016, using King County records to highlight the history of King County parks. For more, see “Athletes with Disabilities: King County Parks as a Recreation Pioneer,” “From Coal to the Cold War: Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park’s Former Nike Missile Sites,” and “Lake Wilderness Lodge: Mid-Century Modern, Pacific Northwest Style.”

How they built the bridge: Teamwork at Tolt-MacDonald Park, 1976

45-8-16_bicentennial_carnation_seatimes_6-19-76

Clipping from the Seattle Times, June 19, 1976. Series 45, King County Executive John Spellman Clipping Files, Box 8, Folder 16, King County Archives.

Forty years ago, the 1976 Bicentennial, commemorating the 200^th anniversary of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, inspired projects celebrating American history and heritage, civic engagement, and community service.

One of the largest and most ambitious Bicentennial projects in the country happened at a King County park in the spring of 1976.

In 1973, King County had opened the Tolt River Park and campground near Carnation, on the east side of the Snoqualmie River where it was joined by the Tolt. Undeveloped park property also lay on the west bank of the Snoqualmie River. A connecting footbridge was envisioned but not initially built.

Aerial park site view, circa 1975-1976. The park is in the angle formed where the rivers meet. The undeveloped west portion area is the forested hillside in the upper left side of the photograph. Series 467, Park System Photograph Files, Box 6, Folder 25, King County Archives.

A Community Project for the Boy Scouts and the Marines

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John MacDonald: photo printed in park dedication program, Series 468, Park System History Files, Box 1, Folder 63, King County Archives.

In 1974, Seattle banker John MacDonald approached King County government with an idea. President of the Chief Seattle Boy Scout Council and a longtime leader of his own church-sponsored Scout troop, MacDonald proposed a Bicentennial project involving all the area’s Boy Scouts. His idea? Scouts would develop trails and campsites on the west bank of Tolt River Park, and the U.S. Marines would build a 500-foot pedestrian bridge across the river.

“Just the type of cooperative project that we have been striving for!” — King County Executive John Spellman to the King County Council.

King County contributed $150,000. Scout Council project manager Don Gerber later recalled, “One of the nice things was that the county merely said, ‘Here’s the money. Build a park.’”

But the Chief Seattle Council of the Boy Scouts of America first had to persuade its 12 component districts to turn their annual “camporees” into work parties. After eight months, 45 meetings, and two scale models of the site (built by Eagle Scouts), everyone agreed. By early 1976, 18 months of planning had resulted in an ambitious six-weekend construction schedule.

King County Parks Department representatives brief the public relations committee of the Chief Seattle Boy Scout Council at the Snoqualmie River bridge site, January 9, 1976. Series 467, Park System Photograph Files, Box 6, Folder 25, King County Archives.

U.S. Army Reserve Brochure, Series 468, Park System History Files, Box 1, Folder 62, King County Archives.

Community Service by the U.S. Army and Marines

Bridge construction would be led by the Army Reserve’s 409th Engineer Company, an Everett-based unit under the 124th Army Reserve Command in Seattle. They would be assisted by the Regular Army, the Marine Corps Reserve, and the 6th Field Engineering Squadron from North Vancouver, British Columbia, who worked on an exchange basis with the 124th. All units operated under regulations allowing for domestic action that provided community services.

Training for the Army Reserve

Building a suspension bridge was also a training exercise for the 409th. Plans came from the Army’s Technical Manual 5-270, with modifications: larger handrails, anti-sway cables, heavier footings, improved cable anchor design, and additions to increase flood, wind and earthquake resistance. The bridge was built to last at least forty years.

Engineering drawing for the bridge. Series 468, Park System History Files, Box 1, Folder 62, King Count Archives.

The project begins

In cold rain and hail, on April 24, 1,500 Scouts from the Shoreline and Viking (northwest Seattle) Districts and 400 leaders and parents turned out.

April 24-25: First task: to clear 23 campsites of ten-foot high brush and devil’s club.

Scout encampment at Tolt River Park. After the day’s work, Scouts participated in traditional Camporee scoutcraft games and contests and competed in camping skills.

May 1-2: Working on a shelter roof. This weekend Scouts from the Cedar River and Central Kitsap districts were on site.

May 1-2: Early worries by leaders that older Scouts wouldn’t participate alongside the cubs proved unfounded.

May 1: Scouts taking a break beside a trail they are building.

May 1-2: The Army Reserve began to raise the 54-foot high bridge towers. Here we see the bridge site seen through approach piers.

May 1-2: Tower and cable work.

May 1-2: The Army Reserve finished the towers and the main suspension cable work the second weekend of the project.

May 8: Assembling a picnic table.

Worksite panorama: main cables have been suspended from the bridge towers.

“It’s fun and it’s work….I think this is a great project because all the parks and campgrounds are so crowded and this will add more room for outdoor people.” — Mark Reed, age 12

“We guys would never work like this at home, but out here it’s a real project. It’s neat to see what we did today and to think about all the people will be able to come out and use this park.” — Jim Krie, age 13

On May 8, cool morning air gave way to a blistering sun. Thirteen hundred Scouts of the Cascade District (Bellevue and Redmond) continued work. Said a reporter for the Bellevue American newspaper, “Perhaps the most notable example of teamwork was the 200-person chain [of Cub Scouts] which passed rocks [for erosion control], one at a time from a rock source at the bottom of the hill to a destination on top.”

Remembering John MacDonald

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John MacDonald, on a trail built by the Scouts, spring 1976. Photocopied Seattle Times photograph originally published July 23, 1976. Series 468, Park System History Files, Box 1, Folder 60, King Count Archives.

John MacDonald was often on site. “This will be remembered by every one of these kids every time they come back here,” he said. “Whenever they go to any park, they’ll remember the work that goes into it and they’ll appreciate it.”

MacDonald, aged 61, suffered a fatal heart attack on May 10, 1976. On June 1, the King County Council, honoring his “efforts and examples of community spirit,” added his name to the site known today as Tolt River–John MacDonald Park.

The bridge deck as it begins extending from the west bank tower.

Scouts at camp, May 15.

View from the top of the trail.

Members of Thunderbird Troop 53 from the Japanese Baptist Church move logs to the hilltop. Each trip took an hour and each group made the trip twice.

Joining the bridge deck sections.

June 5-6: The Army Reserve had now finished the bridge, although not without some night work. Scouts contributed by nailing bridge deck flooring.

Site development work was completed by Scouts from the Polaris District (northeast Seattle), the West Seattle District, and the Mount Olympus District of Clallam and Jefferson Counties.

At the project’s end, 20,000 Scouts and adult leaders had put in some 75,000 hours of work. They had constructed forty hike-in campsites, five shelters and two large service centers; assembled ten picnic tables; opened miles of trails and drainage channels; and undertaken preliminary landscaping. King County estimated that the volunteer work had saved the county $1.5 million in labor costs.

The large scale of the project, and the amount of community cooperation and coordination that had accomplished it, drew local, regional and even national media attention.

U.S. News & World Report

Outdoor Recreation Action

Reserve

Sunset Magazine

Some of the regional and national magazines which featured stories about the Bicentennial bridge project. A feature story also appeared in the Scouting magazine Boys’ Life, October 1976. Series 468, Park System History Files, Box 1, Folder 63, King County Archives.

Time to Celebrate

Color guard crossing the bridge, June 26, 1976. Series 467, Park System History Files, Box 6, Folder 25, King County Archives.

On a bright, sunny June 26, 1976, a crowd of 2,000 — County, Scouting and military representatives, members of local pioneer families, and onlookers — gathered to cross the new footbridge. A Scout color guard followed. On the west bank of the Snoqualmie River, the U.S. Navy band played, a historical pageant of Native American and pioneer folklore was presented, a Liberty Bell replica was rung, a monument to John MacDonald was dedicated, and a time capsule containing names of project participants was buried. Mrs. MacDonald cut the symbolic ribbon, an unidentified Girl Scout declared the park open, and Boy Scouts showed off their hard work.

“Kids get a great deal of satisfaction doing something on their own…. Let a kid build something, and it is his forever.” — John MacDonald

Dedication program. June 26, 1976. Series 468, Park System History Files, Box 1, Folder 62, King County Archives.

Dedication day, June 26, 1976. Photograph printed in the final report of the Seattle-King County Bicentennial Commission, December 1976, Series 872, Box 64, Document 1115, King County Archives

Aerial of the completed bridge, 1976. Series 467, Park System Photograph Files, Box 6, Folder 25, King County Archives.

Boy Scout project badge, 1976. Series 468, Park System History Files,, Box 1, Folder 63, King County Archives.

Memorial monument, Tolt River – John MacDonald Park. Series 467, Park System Photograph Files,, Box 6, Folder 25, King County Archives.

Where were you during the Bicentennial? Were you a part of the Scouts or the Army Reservists who helped develop Tolt-Macdonald Park in 1976? Tell us about your experiences!

Resources

Clipping files, 1973-1980, County Executive John Spellman. Series 45, King County Archives. Additional records from the administration of John Spellman are held by the Puget Sound Regional Archives, Bellevue, WA.

History files, 1949-1997, King County Park System. Series 468, King County Archives.

King County Document Collection. Series 872, King County Archives.

Motion files, King County Council. Series 306, King County Archives.

Ordinance files, King County Council. Series 305, King County Archives.

Photograph files, 1900-2002. King County Department of Transportation, Road Services Division. Series 400, King County Archives.

Photograph files, c. 1948-1998; King County Park System. Series 467, King County Archives.

October is American Archives Month!
The theme chosen by the Washington State Archives for 2016 is “we love parks.” This is the last of a series of four posts from the King County Archives on the history of King County Parks.

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Lake Wilderness Lodge: Mid-Century Modern, Pacific Northwest Style

17 Monday Oct 2016

Posted by kcarchivist in Archives Month, Photographs

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This is the third in a series of blog posts celebrating American Archives Month 2016, using King County records to highlight the history of King County parks. For more, see “Athletes with Disabilities: King County Parks as a Recreation Pioneer.” and “From Coal to the Cold War: Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park’s Former Nike Missile Sites”

Lake Wilderness and Gaffney’s Resort

In the early 20th Century, lakes in the Maple Valley area were popular weekend destinations.

Kane Gaffney, a musician, reportedly had been inspired to establish a resort at Lake Wilderness after performing in an outdoor concert there.

So, in 1926, Kane and his brother Tom founded Gaffney’s Resort, which grew (taking over two other resorts on the lake) and prospered into the 1940s. At its peak, Gaffney’s saw upwards of 9,000 guests in a day.

Kane Gaffney, 1907. Series 467, Park System Photographs, Box 23, King County Archives.

Lake Wilderness had long been a getaway spot. The below map from 1907-08 identifies a summer cottage by the shore of Lake Wilderness, in the vicinity of the future Gaffney’s Resort.

Section 21, Township 22, Range 6 East, 1907-1908. Series 1067, Assessor’s Timber Cruise Reports, Volume 17. King County Archives.

Gaffney’s Resort offered cabins, water slides, a dance hall, and a roller rink, and over time was expanded to include a golf course and an air strip.

Postcards showing Gaffney’s Resort waterfront and cabin interior, circa 1940-1955. Series 472, Cultural History Research Project, Natural Resources and Parks, Department of: Recreation, Aquatics and Fairgrounds Division / Interpretive Program, Box 1, Folder 12, King County Archives.

People from nearby cities and towns travelled to the resort by automobile, and during wartime gas rationing, many came by shuttle. Vacationers stayed in the lodge and in cabins, while locals would frequent the dance hall for weekend nights out.

Plans for a new highway that would link the area to Seattle and Tacoma promised even more business, and, anticipating changing demand, the Gaffney’s invested in a new 20,000 square-foot lodge that could serve as a modern conference facility.

Pacific Northwest Modern

View of lodge from across Lake Wilderness, 1997. Series 1803, Photograph files: historic landmark nominations, Office of the Executive: Office of Business Relations and Economic Development / Historic Preservation Program, Box 2, Folder 10, King County Archives.

Designed by architects Young & Richardson, Gaffney’s Lodge earned a National Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects in 1952, and architectural trade journals lauded its modern design. In 2003, the lodge was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as an early example of the Pacific Northwest Regional Style of the Modern movement.

Young & Richardson’s plans showing elevations of the sections of Gaffney’s Lodge, 1948. Series 1848, Parks plans, Department of Executive Services Facilities Management, Real Estate Services, King County Archives.

Integration with the landscape

A principle of Modernism held that a building should not be imposed upon a space but should instead relate to the landscape and reflect its locale. With its asymmetrical design and use of local materials, the Lake Wilderness Lodge responded gracefully to its surroundings.

Plot plan for Gaffney’s Lodge, 1948. Series 1848, Parks plans, Department of Executive Services Facilities Management, Real Estate Services, King County Archives.

The lodge interior related to the out of doors by providing a dramatic view of the lake from a convention hall that could seat 600, as well as a quiet transition from sleeping quarters to a forested area outside.

Side view of lodge, 1997. Series 1803, Photograph files: historic landmark nominations, Office of the Executive: Office of Business Relations and Economic Development / Historic Preservation Program, Box 2, Folder 10, King County Archives.

Form and Function and a Northwest Regional Architecture

Another tenet of Modernism was to reject superficial ornamentation. Beauty was seen in unity of design, material, and purpose. Manufactured furnishings and structural features such as support beams and joints were not hidden, and their display demonstrated respect for materials and their utility.

Though at the time the architects described the building as resembling “Swiss Alpine” architecture, Gaffney’s Lodge helped define an emerging Northwest Modern style. Industrial, manufactured elements, such as concrete posts, steel pipes, and large window panes, were combined with regional materials like hand-split cedar from local forests, and the overall design centered around an artwork based in the region’s Native American traditions.

The Dudley Carter Column

Detail from drawing for column and main stairway of Gaffney’s Lodge, 1948. Series 1848, Parks plans, Department of Executive Services Facilities Management, Real Estate Services, King County Archives.

Artist Dudley Carter sculpted the central column that spanned three stories and served as the lodge’s central structural support, rising to the ceiling through a free-standing staircase.

In describing the work, Carter explained how traditional Northwest Native American design and technique aligned with Modernist principles.

“The departure from realism, the distortion of the more or less abstract characters, together with the filling of space, brings the composition within the limits of the column. This, and the interlocking principle as practiced by the totem carvers makes a continuity of design throughout, while the blocky nature of the forms and the varying planes emphasize the three-dimensional quality of the sculpture and keep it in harmony with the medium and function as an architectural feature of the building. The characters are all native of the Northwest. The medium is Northern Red Cedar logged from the slopes of Mt. Pilchuck and carved with double-bit faller axes.” Dudley Carter, circa 1949. From artist’s statement provided to architects Young & Richardson, circa 1950. (Series 472, Cultural History Research Project, Natural Resources and Parks, Department of: Recreation, Aquatics and Fairgrounds Division / Interpretive Program, Box 1, Folder 12, King County Archives.)

Carving the Column

Dudley Carter carved the column from a 35-foot cedar trunk that was five feet in diameter at the base. He worked in public at the 1949 King County Fair, held in Enumclaw. The photographs here show the carving in progress.

Carving of pole for Gaffney’s Lodge by artist Dudley Carter at King County Fair, 1949. Series 468, Park System History Files, Box 1, Folder 9, King County Archives.

Carter documented the significance of each figure in the column. The human at the top represented the lodge’s host, who “seems to be gazing out across the Lake Wilderness toward Mt. Rainier and wishes for someone else to hold up the roof while he goes fishing on the lake.” (Click on the below detail for more descriptions.)

Transcription of artist’s statement by Dudley Carter provided to Young & Richardson circa 1948-1949. Series 472, Cultural History Research Project, Natural Resources and Parks, Department of: Recreation, Aquatics and Fairgrounds Division / Interpretive Program, Box 1, Folder 12, King County Archives.

The lodge’s Tillicum Room lounge also employed motifs derived from Northwest Native American art.

Details from plan for the Tillicum Room lounge at Gaffney’s Lodge, 1948. Series 1848, Parks plans, Department of Executive Services Facilities Management, Real Estate Services, King County Archives.

Permanent Open Space

Some 8,000 people had attended the lodge’s 1950 opening celebration that included an air show utilizing the new air strip near the building. But over the next decade, the resort’s popularity declined.

In 1966, King County was able to purchase the property through federal grant funding under the Housing Act of 1961, which supported preservation of open space near growing urban areas. The same year, the Lake Wilderness Arboretum Foundation was established and began development of an arboretum adjacent to today’s Lake Wilderness Park.

A Comfortable Building for Intellectual Pursuits

King County managed the 100-plus acres of open space and leased the lodge to the University of Washington for its extension program.

From photocopy of clipping from the Everett Herald article dated March 1, 1969. Series 472, Cultural History Research Project, Natural Resources and Parks, Department of: Recreation, Aquatics and Fairgrounds Division / Interpretive Program, Box 1, Folder 12, King County Archives.

The Everett Herald described the center in 1969 as “a comfortable, modern building of glass and concrete….designed and operated solely to provide an atmosphere and surroundings to aid intellectual pursuits,” hosting over 70 academic conferences a year.

A Future for the Lodge

After 20 years, in 1986, the University did not renew its lease, and with funding needed for upgrades and asbestos removal, the County and the community debated the lodge’s future.

A private company, Sportsmind Inc., which provided coaching and training to corporate and military clients, bid to lease the building for weekend retreats. Senior housing was another possibility, and there was popular support for an “Unlimited Hydroplane Hall of Fame and Museum.” The lodge finally was retained and renovated by King County, including making newly required safety and accessibility improvements, and was operated as a community center. In 1997, King County designated the lodge an official historic landmark.

The King County Public Arts Program’s Artist-Made Building Parts Project set out to “revive and promote the integration of art and architecture” and to “expand creative employment opportunities for artists.” In 1994, the program commissioned artist Jim Garrett to add required additional safety railing around the lodge’s free-standing stairway. (Artist-made building parts project / to revive, promote and encourage the integration of art and architecture, 1996, Series 872, Document Collection, Document 4912, King County Archives. )

To the City of Maple Valley

Through its acquisition of the land and decades of stewardship, King County ensured preservation of not only the culturally significant Lake Wilderness Lodge, but also the swath of picturesque lakeshore that has served as a recreation spot for over a century.

In 2003, Lake Wilderness Park and the lodge were transferred to the recently incorporated City of Maple Valley. The park continues to provide open space and a variety of recreation opportunities in the rapidly growing suburban city, and the lodge remains a popular venue for weddings and other events.

An Aside for Rails-to-Trails Fans

The 1907-08 Timber Cruise map at the beginning of this post also notes the line of the Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad, labeled “C. & P.S.R.R.” In the 1970s, in an early rails-to-trail conversion, this line became King County’s Cedar to Green Rivers Trail that connects the Cedar River Trail to Lake Wilderness.

Related King County Resources

King County Historic Preservation Program

Sources

United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Places NRIS Reference Number: 03000163, Gaffney’s Lake Wilderness Lodge (http://npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/03000163.pdf)

The City of Maple Valley “Parks and Trails” (www.maplevalleywa.gov/departments-services/parks-recreation/parks-and-trails)

King County Archives Record Series

The below record series were used in researching this post. Series descriptions can be searched using our online collection database at archivesearch.kingcounty.gov.

Series 124, Commissioners Resolutions.

Series 306, Motion Files, King County Council: Relating to the King County Park System: Adopt Lake Wilderness Master Plan, 12/18/1989.

Series 467, Park System Photograph Files.

Series 468, Park System History Files.

Series 472, Cultural History Research Project, Department of Natural Resources and Parks, Aquatics and Fairgrounds Division / Interpretive Program.

History of Lake Wilderness & the Surrounding Communities, Transcription of taped interview: Bud Byers of the Maple Valley Historical Society. Recorded 7/31/95 by Holly Taylor

Series 872, Document Collection: [Document 1296] Lake Wilderness Master Plan / Draft Master Plan Report, Executive Summary, King County Natural Resources and Parks Division (1989).

Series 872, Document Collection: [Document 4912] Artist-made building parts project / to revive, promote and encourage the integration of art and architecture / [catalogue] (1996).

Series 992 , Box 2, Charles Payton administrative working files, Cultural Resources, Office of: Landmarks and Heritage Commission / Office of Historic Preservation King County Comprehensive Cultural Plan, Lake Wilderness Conference Center, Preston: mill and proposed arboretum, Seattle Center levy.

Series 1067, Assessor’s Timber Cruise Reports, 1907-1908.

Series 1803, Photograph files: historic landmark nominations, Office of the Executive, Office of Business Relations and Economic Development / Historic Preservation Program.

Series 1848, Parks plans, Department of Executive Services, Facilities Management Division / Real Estate Services.

October is American Archives Month!
The theme chosen by the Washington State Archives for 2016 is “we love parks.” This is the third of a series of four posts from the King County Archives on the history of King County Parks.

From Coal to the Cold War: Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park’s Former Nike Missile Sites

13 Thursday Oct 2016

Posted by kcarchivist in Archives Month, Other, Photographs

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Tags

archives, cold war, history, nike, parks, recreation

This is the second in a series of blog posts celebrating American Archives Month 2016, using King County records to tell stories on Washington state’s theme of “We Love Parks.” For more, see “Athletes with Disabilities: King County Parks as a Recreation Pioneer” and “Lake Wilderness Lodge: Mid-Century Modern, Pacific Northwest Style.”

At the center of the Seattle Defense Area, King County was home to at least seven Nike missile installations between 1956 and 1974, most of which became county or city parks after decommissioning. The former Nike sites at Cougar Mountain and Lake Youngs were both taken over by King County Parks and developed into recreational areas for the benefit of the public.

Bird’s-eye photograph of Cougar Mountain, 1982. Taken from near just southeast of the intersection of SE May Valley Rd & SR 900.
Series 1629, Box 1, Folder 1.

Locating Missile Sites

The rapid stockpiling of American and Soviet missile arsenals that came to define the Atomic Age raised the possibility of sudden, decisive strikes that all but guaranteed long-term, widespread devastation for the government caught off-guard. American resources were invested not only in civilian defense, but into building an arsenal, ensuring the promise of mutually assured destruction and deploying dozens of defensive conventional and nuclear missile silos around major coastal cities and military installations.

Siting the installations during early planning phases was problematic; launch sites needed to be located in defensive rings around major cities and critical sites, but also required 119 acres per site. By the time the Ajax and Hercules sites of the Seattle Defense Area were built, architect Leon Chatelain, Jr., had designed underground sites that not only provided first-strike protection to the command and control facilities, but also decreased the necessary amount of land to 40 acres and allowed the sites to be located closer to the cities they defended.

Building a Park

King County acquired the former Nike sites through multiple transactions between the 1960s and the 1980s. The current site of Petrovitsky Park was once part of the Lake Youngs dual launch and control sites, stocked with Ajax surface-to-air missiles and operational between 1956 and 1961. Grandview Park and Kent Mountain View Academy in SeaTac are located on land acquired from King County after the Army decommissioned the former site of S-43, the Kent/Midway Ajax launch installation.

S-33 Lake Youngs launch site (map no. KCAS-1965-23.05)

S-43 Kent/Midway, 1965 (map no. KCAS-1965-22.04)

Above, 1965 Aerial Survey images from the King County Road Services Map Vault. Left to right: Lake Youngs (map no. KCAS-1965.23.05); Kent/Midway (map no. KCAS-1965.22.04)

Arguably the crown jewel of the King County Parks system, Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park encompasses the sites of the former Ajax missile launch and control facilities known as S-20. Like Petrovitsky Park, the Cougar Mountain area had experienced active coal mining in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries and became anti-ballistic missile installations during the late 1950s and early 1960s. During construction of the underground missile storage vaults, Army contractors reportedly filled two open mine shafts with concrete to seal the openings and stabilize the area.

Cougar Mountain Launch Site Park Plan, 1981. Series 1876 – Parks maintenance subject files, box 2

Deactivated in 1964, both the control and launch sites at Cougar Mountain were acquired by the King County Parks and Recreation Division and turned into the upper and lower park areas in 1983. In 1993, Parks partnered with the Army Corps of Engineers and government contractors on an environmental project at the former control site: removing the mess hall, latrine, and assembly and test buildings; pumping water out of the missile vaults; and seeding the launch area to cover it with grass. Some of the upper site remains.

S-20 Cougar Mountain control site (ref ID 900.25)

S-20 Cougar Mountain launch site (ref ID 900.26)

Aerial photographs of S-20 Cougar Mountain/Issaquah, ca. 1970s-1990s. Left: control site near Anti-Aircraft Peak; right: launch site off of Clay Pit Rd.
Series 900, Rolls 25 and 26.

King County continued to acquire land around these two initial sites, with the goal of building the park into a large public recreational area, close to urban populated areas and providing access to a wide variety of wild natural areas within the context of the region’s developmental history. “The green spaces within urbanized areas are not created or preserved because the land underneath is unsuitable for urbanization,” proclaimed a 1981 study by the Parks and Recreation Division:

Instead, the green spaces are there because the overall metropolitan complex needs them and ‘forward thinking decision makers’ have preserved them. . . . It is not any individual specific scene or composition that is captivating [at Cougar Mountain]; rather, visitors are taken by the mountain’s aggregate extent, its variety and landscape complexity and its many-acred largeness.

Miles of trails, expansive views of the region, and distinctive terrain characterize this landscape, and it is one of the few sites in King County with such an abundant diversity of native Washington plants. Today, Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park contains 3,100 acres of public wildland, connected to Squak Mountain State Park for a total of 5,000 acres of land protected for the enjoyment of all.

Photoillustration from the Cougar Mountain Master Plan (ref ID 467.2.24)

Bird’s-eye view of Cougar Mountain, ca 1970s or 1980s, from the vicinity of *-90 and 17th Ave NW (ref ID 467.2.24)

Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park, ca. 1990 (ref ID 467.2.24)

Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park, Aug 1994 (ref ID 467.2.24)

Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park, ca. 1980s (ref ID 467.2.24)

Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park, ca. 1983 (ref ID 467.2.24)

Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park, Jan 1995, by Nancy Clendaniel Photography (ref ID 467.2.24)

Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park, Aug 1994 (ref ID 467.2.24)

Upper Nike site (control), field and woodframe building near north and east boundary of site, 15 Sep 1980 (ref ID 467.2.24)

Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park, Aug 1994 (ref ID 467.2.24)

Glacier Peak, Lake Sammamish, from viewpoint about 25-30 yds east of Upper Cougar Mountain Nike site, 10 Sep 1980 (ref ID 467.2.24)

Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park, Aug 1994 (ref ID 467.2.24)

Aerial view – vicinity of the lower Nike site (launch), ca. 1980s (ref ID 467.2.24)

Aerial view of the lower Nike site (launch), ca. 1980s (ref ID 467.2.24)

Aerial view of the upper Nike site (control), ca. 1980s (ref ID 467.2.24)

Selections from Series 467, Photograph files of the King County Parks System, Cougar Mountain, Box 2, Folder 24.

Sources

Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park in King County, Washington, http://www.kingcounty.gov/services/parks-recreation/parks/parks-and-natural-lands/popular-parks/cougar.aspx.

Fred Weinmann, “Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park—Marshall Hill Trail, DeLeo Wall and Redtown Meadow — April 20,” Washington Native Plant Society (Seattle, WA), http://www.wnps.org/cps/walks/apr-02.html, updated 3 Jul 2016.

John C. Lonnquest, David F. Winkler, and Julie L. Webster, “To Defend and Deter: The Legacy of the United States Cold War Missile Program” (Washington, DC, 1996).

King County Archives records cited

Series 467- King County Parks System – Photograph files, Box 2, Folder 24: “Cougar Mountain”

Series 900 – Department of Natural Resources and Parks – Aerial photographs:

Roll 25, Cougar Mountain Upper, 1″=50′
Roll 26, Cougar Mountain Lower, 1″=50′

Series 1629 – Office of Information Resource Management: Service Development / Printing and Graphic Arts – Photographs: Negatives, Box 1, Folder 1

Series 1876 – Department of Natural Resources and Parks – Parks maintenance subject files, box 2:

Study: “Cougar Mountain Regional Park,” King County Parks and Recreation Division (Seattle, WA, 1981).

Memo from Steve Williams to Randy Schroers, Bud Parker, and Ron Erickson (30 Nov 1992).

Related King County Resources

King County Parks and the Parks Plog
King County Road Services Division Map Vault

October is American Archives Month!
The theme chosen by the Washington State Archives for 2016 is “we love parks.” This is the second of a series of four posts from the King County Archives on the history of King County Parks.

Athletes with Disabilities: King County Parks as a Recreation Pioneer

03 Monday Oct 2016

Posted by kcarchivist in Archives Month, Photographs

≈ 1 Comment

Camping program participant, c. 1958-1960. Series 467, Box 14, Folder 6.

In the postwar 1950s, King County Parks oversaw a robust program of organized recreational activities. Under departmental leadership emphasizing innovation and expansion, recreation opportunities were extended to new, under-served groups of county residents, including girls and women, senior citizens – and youths with disabilities.

A happy camper, c. 1958-1960.
Series 467, Box 14, Folder 6.

A Pioneering Program

“Adapted recreation” for people with disabilities, both physical and intellectual, was an extremely novel idea in a time when these individuals were often regarded with only pity and were not well integrated into society at large.

In 1958, King County’s recreation leaders launched the pioneering adapted recreation program, the only such year-round program in the Pacific Northwest, and the first in the region to be sponsored by a public agency. In its initial year, 86 children with physical disabilities participated. In two years, participation tripled as children with intellectual disabilities were welcomed into the program.

“We felt that these children should have
opportunities after school, like anyone else”

Patricia Karrasch, recreation program director.

Inclusion and acceptance

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Swimming program participants, c. 1960. Series 467, Box 14, Folder 6.

Recreation leaders encouraged the participation of abled youths alongside those with disabilities. Interaction among the groups was promoted as a social good that fostered inclusivity and acceptance. The program’s philosophy further permitted any participant to try any activity. If one activity wasn’t successful, another was offered in its place.

Expanding Activities

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Playing checkers, circa 1958-1960. Series 467, Box 14, Folder 5

Earliest activities included games, training in crafts, and structured social events. Team and individual sports, such as softball, track, tennis and bowling were swiftly added and many more would follow.

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160-467-14-8-girl-campers-at-picnic-table

Top: Archery practice, circa 1950s, Series 467, Box 14, Folder 5. Bottom left: Flag raising at camp, circa 1958-1960, Series 467, Box 14, Folder 3. Bottom center: Doing crafts, Camp Lutherwood, circa 1958-1960, Series 467, Box 14, Folder 8. Bottom right: Basketball at Camp Lutherwood, circa 1958-1960, Series 467, Box 14, Folder 8.

A Model Swimming Program

King County Parks’ popular and successful swimming program was extended to adapted recreation, not only as an individual activity, but soon as a competitive sport. This drew national attention. In the mid-1960s, when the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation was developing the first nationwide Special Olympics for youth with intellectual disabilities, planners sought out King County’s recreation specialists to learn how to stage a swimming competition. Two of the seven events at the first Special Olympics games were swimming.

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Swimming program participants and helpers, probably at Camp Lutherwood; circa 1960. Series 467, Box 14, Folder 5.

Listen to Patricia Karrasch, recreation director for King County Parks in the 1950s and 1960s, talk about the competitive swimming program and other aspects of recreation for people with disabilities, and how the Parks program contributed to the first Special Olympics.

Interview with Patricia Karrasch, April 19, 1989. Series 50, Department of Parks, Planning and Resources, Parks Division, Oral history interviews, Box 2, tape 1, King County Archives.

Travel by Air, and On to the Special Olympics

Providing opportunities for youth to travel by air to camps and other destinations was already component of the adaptive recreation program.

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Parks program participants ready for departure from Seattle’s Boeing Field, circa 1960. Series 467, Box 14, Folder 5.

In 1968, 90 young athletes from Washington State — about 10 to 14 from King County — traveled to Chicago for the first Special Olympics via the team plane of the University of Washington Huskies.

Into the 1970s and 1980s

The models of the Special Olympics, and the older Paralympic Games for athletes with physical disabilities, were replicated at the state level in the 1970s and 1980s through the Washington Wheelchair Games and the Washington Games for Physically Disabled Citizens. King County endorsed the games and helped stage them; many county citizens participated.

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Lowell Elementary School student practicing for the 1977 Washington Olympics for the Physically Disabled. Series 467, Box 21, Folder 2.

The original caption for the image to the right reads, “a student at Lowell Elementary School in Seattle practices one of the events which will be featured in the upcoming 1977 Washington Olympics for the Physically Disabled. This is the first year for these Olympics which will be held Saturday, March 5, at Green River Community College near Auburn, Washington. The Olympics are sponsored by the King County Parks Division, the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department, and Green River Community College.”

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A young artist, camping at Gold Creek Park lodge near Woodinville, 1980. Series 467, Box 11, Folder 2

As programs for persons with disabilities grew in schools and other public and private organizations, King County Parks continued its own program. At its peak, in the early 1980s, almost 30,000 participants enjoyed a wide range of activities.

Gains in Rights and Accessibility, and a Changing Role for Parks

Over time, and with the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, individuals with disabilities achieved new rights, greater visibility, and opportunities alongside all citizens. During the same time, while King County Parks moved away from organized recreation and toward land stewardship through the creation of regional parks and trails, new accessible designs enabled increased recreational use of County parks by individuals with disabilities.

Looking Forward to the 2018 Special Olympics

As Seattle prepares to host the 2018 Special Olympics, King County can look back proudly at its pioneering role in special recreation.

Campers and staff at Camp Lutherwood, c. 1958-1960. Series 467, Box 14, Folder 6.

Looking Back

Did you or a family member participate in King County’s adapted recreation program, the Special Olympics or other athletic competitions? Tell us about your experiences by replying below!

Sources

Annual reports, 1948-1985; King County Parks and Recreation Department. Series 1714, King County Archives.

Interviews with Patricia Karrasch, Tom Ryan and George Wyse, 1988-1991; King County Department of Parks, Planning and Resources oral history interviews. Series 50, King County Archives.

Photograph files, c. 1948-1998; King County Parks System. Series 467, King County Archives.

Seattle Times news stories about the first Special Olympics:

“County Parks Sets Meet for Retarded Youth,” May 26, 1968.

“Chicago ‘Special Olympics’ Set for Retarded Children,” June 2, 1968.

“State Youths to Compete in ‘Olympics,’” June 27, 1968.

Related King County Resources

King County Parks and the Parks Plog

Department of Human Services Developmental Disabilities Division

The Office of Civil Rights Kids Web

October is American Archives Month!
The theme chosen by the Washington State Archives for 2016 is “we love parks.” This is the first of a series of four posts from the King County Archives on the history of King County Parks.